DANIEL HEMRIC FINISHES NINTH AT DOVER
Date: May 15, 2021
Event: Drydene 200 (Round 10 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Dover International Speedway (1-mile concrete oval)
Format: 200 laps (Stages: 45 laps / 45 laps / 110 laps)
Start / Finish: 1st / 9th (Running, 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 2nd (375 points, -62 points out of first)
Race Winner: Austin Cindric
Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier
Stage 2 Winner: Josh Berry
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-45)
Daniel Hemric started on the pole for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover International Speedway and finished 13th in stage one.
After leading the field to the green flag, Hemric led Lap 1 before reporting that his Poppy Bank Toyota Supra was very loose navigating the track’s concrete high banks.
He slid back to fourth before the competition caution waved on Lap 21. Crew chief Dave Rogers kept Hemric on track during the caution to maintain the team’s track position.
Hemric chose to restart on the inside of row two for the Lap-27 restart and slipped a few positions to sixth before another caution five laps later.
With nine laps remaining in stage one, Hemric restarted in the outside lane and was shuffled outside the top 10 after contact from another car.
Hemric finished the stage in 13th and brought the Poppy Bank Supra to pit road for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment during the subsequent caution period.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 46-90)
Hemric started 16th and finished 11th in stage two.
Several cars opted not to pit between stages and put Hemric back further in the running order to begin the segment.
The stage was slowed three times because of cautions and even one red flag for a multi-car accident. Through it all, Hemric remained inside the top 15.
Despite ending the stage 11th, the Poppy Bank team took longer than normal on their pit stop to make significant adjustments to help the handling for Hemric.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 91-200)
Hemric started the final stage in 21st and finished ninth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover International Speedway.
Early in the final stage, the Poppy Bank Supra patiently crept up the leaderboard and Hemric was scored 12th when the caution waved on Lap 139.
The No. 18 team gained three positions on pit road and moved Hemric back inside the top 10 for the race’s final restart with 56 laps remaining.
Hemric fell back to 12th on the restart before eventually rejoining the top 10 as the laps counted down.
The Poppy Bank Supra was scored 10th with two laps remaining before another car was forced to pit and gave Hemric a ninth-place finish.
Daniel Hemric quotes:
We missed it, and missed it bad today. Dave (Rodgers, crew chief) and our guys did all they could, adjustment wise to bandaid our issue, but we never could get the rear grip we needed to contend. Have to be on the gas to be fast here, and we just didn’t have it.
Additional Notes
Hemric’s ninth-place result was the No. 18 team’s eighth top-10 finish in 10 races so far this season.
Ty Gibbs led Joe Gibbs Racing with a fifth-place finish in Saturday’s race. Harrison Burton ended the sixth with Hemric ninth and Brandon Jones 35th.
Next Up: The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Austin, Texas next weekend for the inaugural race at Circuit of the Americas. The race will be broadcast live Saturday, May 22, at 4 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
-JGR-